Seatbelt assemblies are in widespread use in motor vehicles. Present systems have certain common elements including seatbelt webbing which extends across the upper and lower torso of the occupant, and a retractor for allowing protraction and retraction of the webbing so that the belt may adapt to different sizes of occupants and be conveniently out of the way when not being used. Seatbelt assemblies further typically include a buckle which releasably attaches to a latch plate. Other common elements include deflectors or D-rings which reroute the webbing to properly position it with respect to the occupant to provide the desired restraint performance along with comfort and convenience of use.
Seatbelt assemblies must be securely affixed to motor vehicle structural elements in order to provide the necessary restraint effect in vehicle impact conditions and further to meet government regulations. Most frequently, elements of the seatbelt assembly are mounted to the vehicle structure such as the floor pan, roof rail, body pillars, or seats using threaded fasteners. For some designs of seatbelt systems, it is necessary to affix two components together to provide an anchor assembly and the two parts may be attached together at various stages of an assembly process and perhaps at different locations. For such applications, an anchor component is provided which is affixed to the seatbelt webbing and may for example include a D-ring or aperture for receiving belt webbing, which is connected with a separate ferrule or other mounting element adapted to be affixed to the vehicle. Since these parts are separate, they must be assembled at some point in the assembly process. Moreover, some designs of seatbelt restraint systems must be adapted for mounting to various types of vehicle applications. For example, in some instances an anchor is bolted directly to a vehicle structure element through a metal connector strap having an aperture for receiving a mounting bolt. In other applications, a cable having an end affixed to the motor vehicle and another end affixed to the anchor is used. It is desirable to provide a seatbelt anchor assembly which can be readily adapted for both strap and cable mounting applications as well as other potential mounting applications.
Since it is often necessary to mate the above-mentioned components of an anchor assembly for such applications, it is desirable that these parts can be fitted together during the assembly process and maintained in an attached condition until final attachment and securement of the components can be accomplished. By retaining these parts together, they are maintained in an assembled condition.
Since seatbelt anchor assemblies must bear significant tensile forces during operation and testing, the two components which mate together to form the anchor assembly must be structurally robust in order to meet these requirements, and their proper assembly should be easily attained and visually apparent.
A seatbelt anchor assemblies in accordance with this invention provide the above-mentioned features of adaptability, ease of assembly, and structural integrity.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.